New mixed league set to make its LABR debut

After 18 seasons of AL- and NL-only auction leagues, there will be a change taking place in 2012 for USA TODAY's annual gathering of fantasy baseball experts -- the League of Alternative Baseball Reality (LABR).

In years past, we've grabbed a number of the AL and NL LABR participants during draft weekend and conducted a mock mixed-league draft. The results have been part of Sports Weekly's Fantasy Extra issue in mid-March -- and they've served as a guide for fantasy owners in straight-draft mixed leagues who may not get as much out of the auction results.

Now, for the first time, an actual mixed league will now be played out under the LABR banner. And the draft will take place this Saturday at 7 p.m. ET on MockDraftCentral.com -- the weekend before the AL and NL auctions in Phoenix.

Here are the participants in the inaugural LABR mixed league, along with the draft order:

Mike Podhorzer – FanGraphs.com

Tom Trudeau/Craig Glaser – Bloomberg Sports

Fred Zinkie – MLB.com

Drew Silva – Rotoworld.com

Tim Heaney – KFFL.com

Bobby Colton – SportsGrumblings.com

Todd Zola – Mastersball.com

Steve Gardner – USA TODAY

Derek Van Riper – Rotowire.com

Doug Anderson – RotoExperts.com

Rudy Gamble/Grey Albright – Razzball.com

Ray Murphy – BaseballHQ.com

James Quintong – ESPN.com

Clay Davenport – ClayDavenport.com

Jonah Keri – Grantland.com

The participants have already begun to formulate their strategies and Fred Zinkie of mlb.com has already written a preview of what the first round could look like. (Spoiler alert: He likes his spot at No. 3 overall.)

It's quite a star-studded group. And one that should be interesting to follow all season long.

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About Steve Gardner

Steve's been with USA TODAY in one form or another since 1993. He started
at USATODAY.com in 1996, becoming the website's baseball editor in 1999, and
has written the fantasy baseball column for Sports Weekly since 2006. Follow
him on Twitter: @sgardnerUSAT.